Giovanni Savarese could not disguise his disappointment as Melbourne Victory lost their 2026/27 A-League Men season opener to Wellington Phoenix.
The Matchweek 1 bout seemed set for a different direction of travel after Charles Nduka smartly levelled for the visitors after 25 minutes, cancelling out Corban Piper’s firm header.
However, the Phoenix found the critical go-ahead goal at Hnry Stadium, with Riley Bidois’ low second-half finish leaving Victory empty-handed.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Savarese discussed the feeling of falling short on the trip to New Zealand’s capital.
“I am disappointed because, in our minds, we do not register [the possibility] of losing. In reality, we haven’t lost a game. – yes, the PKs in the Australia Cup – but this is the first defeat that we have on the pitch during the 90 minutes.
“We’re disappointed, we are upset, and it’s not something that we’re going to absorb easily.”
The Sunday afternoon contest was Victory’s third competitive fixture across nine days, following the 2026 Hahn Australia Cup Final and AFC Champions League Two Group E win over FC Seoul.
The Head Coach refused to use the schedule as an excuse, instead identifying it as a valuable education for the A-League Men’s team ahead of the Melbourne Derby at AAMI Park on Saturday, October 24, kick-off 7:40pm AEDT.
“We were tired, but that’s not an excuse, it’s just something that we need to continue to learn. I wouldn’t call it a wake-up call, but a learning lesson. A learning lesson to make sure that we understand that we need to be better in this moment than we were today.
“We put in the effort; we worked very hard. I thought that it was a pretty even match. I thought we had the better of the ball.”
Watch the full press conference below.
